Autism Language Program
"Teaching Language Concepts"

The Center for Communication Enhancement at Children's Hospital Waltham has designed and developed a new Augmentative Communication software application "Teaching Language Concepts". TLC is intended for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. This software is designed for the verbal or the non-verbal child generally older than three years with communication difficulties. Many of these children do not process auditory input correctly; speech can be heard, but there is a problem processing or understanding what is being said.

To help these children learn and interact TLC makes use of a logical sequence of graphic symbols which leads into the video model. This helps children express and understand nouns as well as the more difficult notion of "action" verbs, prepositions, descriptors and spatial concepts. This software allows Speech & Language Pathologists to interact with the child in a visual format that is very meaningful to them. The goal is to provide a tangible "imprinted" reference allowing the child to draw from those stored images for future problem solving and abstract situations.

An important and exciting option of TLC is a personalization feature whereby video clips and still images of the child, their family, other familiar surroundings and activities can be used to enhance the learning process and feedback. This personalized content can be easily uploaded into the programs image warehouse. Parents may also purchase the TLC software for use on their home computer. Our therapists will establish a home TLC program to augment the sessions at Braintree Rehabilitations Outpatient Pediatric Clinics.

This program is currently offered at three of our pediatric locations:

Please note: In order to determine if this is the most beneficial form of Augmentative Communication for a particular child, it may be recommended that the child have an initial evaluation at the Center for Communication Enhancement at the Children's Hospital Boston's Waltham campus. The Center is located at 9 Hope Street, Waltham and can be contacted at (781) 216-2000